Chapter 31

31

ROMAN

T he cold hit me like an army of icy hammers. The flames consumed every building, smothering them in ice, the road resembling an ice rink.

The fire danced like normal fire, but without any smoke seeing as it didn't burn anything.

Whoa. It was like a new ice age had struck, my bones feeling every freezing bite.

With zero intention of delving deeper into the meaning of this shit, I wished for the time jar.

Nothing happened, not so much as a tiny stir in my device.

I wished again.

Nothing.

"Shit."

After five more attempts, I hurried back through the door to the outright panic amongst the magic users.

"Did it work?" Xavier asked, a sentinel on the other side.

"No. And something bad is happening over there."

He followed me across time.

His body language changed the moment we stepped into the frozen nightmare.

"The surprise," Xavier said, his tone wreathed in darkness. He slipped an arm around me.

"I'll say." Condensation wisped out of my mouth with every word.

"Do you remember Tanith's plan? How we believed there was more to come? Well, here it is. She's not only been building an army of demons and witches, but also saving the best until last." He growled, freaking me out.

"Can you reveal what's behind door number three right now, please?"

"Andri, a demon of ice. From the ancient times. He made the ice of the lake. He hasn't been seen in centuries, presumed dead. Tanith has been keeping him stored for a rainy day, it seems."

"Damn her snaky arse. I take it this isn't magical ice fire?"

"No. It's as natural as that draconic demon's fire."

"Just wanted to check for any loopholes."

My muscles were twitchy as well as cold, prickles of fear dancing on my scalp. "Is this Ismael's plan? To make the world an icy wasteland?"

Xavier responded with another growl.

I moved closer to Xavier, wrapping myself in his heat. The cold still clawed at me, barely kept at bay.

"I heard rumors Andri might be living in the lowest levels of the demon realm," my boyfriend said. "Like Butterfly, his lair was never found." He sighed, releasing a stream of condensation. "This is bad, Roman. Especially with your power not working."

I knew something had changed since the dagger's removal. Damn it.

"We'll have to hunt Butterfly down," I said. "Him and Ismael."

"Yes."

"Not going to be fun."

"It never is." He gave me a warm squeeze. "Don't go near those flames."

"Not intending to."

"You will freeze to death, burn as if they were fire. But in a cold way."

Yeah. A hard no touchy for me. "Noted. Right, where's the exit?"

We were trapped inside a blue ring of icy death, cutting the time door off from the city beyond it. Even if I suddenly sprouted wings or springs in my feet, there'd be no clearing the small hole above our heads without the flames touching us.

Make that a dome of icy death.

"Don't suppose you're immune to that?" I asked him.

"No, unfortunately."

Damn. Okay. Think, think, think. Search for the chink in the armor. There was always an oversight somewhere, especially with how quickly this went down.

Bingo! A manhole cover alarmingly close to the flames, but doable as long as the ice fires weren't down there too. I pointed it out to Xavier, shivering my bollocks off by this point.

He agreed with a nod, taking my hand as we hurried toward it.

"Wait, Shadow!"

Margarite's voice brought my feet to a stop. I'd forgotten all about her and Lizard Guy.

They were glittering again.

"What is it?" I said, remembering the thing about waiting for me to be restored.

She smiled, her arms super straight by her sides. "We can help you now."

"Like before?"

She shook her head, Lizard Guy offering me a sad smile.

"Things have changed," he chimed in. "We can only help you one more time."

"By becoming part of you," Margarite carried on.

What was this, verbal tennis?

"Together, we'll enter you."

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "Beg your pardon?"

"Our strengths joined to yours," Lizard Guy added. "We give our existences to yours. Feed on us. Draw on our energies to make you stronger."

My head went all light and dizzy. "Whoa."

It was Margarite's turn to speak now. "No need to fear, Shadow. Simply allow us in and enjoy our sacrifice."

That word. It didn't sit right, especially coming from her mouth. I scratched at my chest, my body seriously pissed off with this cold now. Overthinking this brought hesitation—a luxury we didn't have. The sacrifice bit just really turned my guts upside down, but what if it helped us gain the upper hand?

"What happens to you both?" I asked, drawing on some heat from my demonic honey bunny.

Xavier rubbed my body for good measure.

"Gone once we're all used up," Lizard Guy answered.

"Gone," Margarite said. "For the greater good. For you. It will not give you the wishing back, but it will help you in this fight." Margarite's expression shifted, seeming much more like the woman I used to serve. "We have our issues, and I remember flashes of our moments here and there—which are no longer my concern. Serving you is my priority."

I squirmed under her golden gaze. "I'm sorry it came down to me killing you. But…" I wasn't sure how to proceed, itching to go into that manhole.

Her posture change, sagging in what looked like defeat. "I miss them… I want… I see… I saw her, the Margarite of back then." She pointed at the door. "I feel the love of my children, my husband. Remember the blanket of it, so far away from the grief and the bitterness." She closed her eyes for a moment, then smiled. "So much light."

A billion stabs of guilt punctured my defenses. I'd pledged to serve her, breaking the rules spectacularly, feeling like an arsehole for letting her down. However, no amount of guilt would ever put me in her service again. We were done. So, so done.

With a deep breath, I told them to come on in. "Let's get this over and done with."

The former witch queen and the demon joined hands and broke apart into two figure-shaped clouds of glitter that rushed at me, transforming into streams of golden light at the last minute.

"Whoa!" I cried, those beams hitting me in the chest.

Xavier held onto me as the impact rocked my body, almost taking my legs out from under me as power surged, my device humming with hot delight. The incredible energy from two very different creatures joined with mine, filling me up to the brim. Every trace of tiredness got chased away, nothing aching or hurting. With a battery like this inside me, I could run several marathons back-to-back.

Is this what it was like to drink the Ambrosia of the Greek gods?

Xavier touched the side of my face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm amazing." High on power.

Pixels blinked to life in this sky, quickly spreading.

Talk about a mood killer.

And with that, we made our way into the sewers.